The bottle we are going to discuss came from Old Sugar Distillery and is called Queen Jennie Sorghum Whiskey. I had to revisit this one because it was the last of the aged whiskey we tried that night, and I was a bit put off by how different it was from the rest of the whiskey we had tried. It wasn’t bad, just off.

Sorghum Grass

As I said, this is sorghum “Whiskey”. Normally, whiskey is made from a grain or combination of grains consisting of corn, barley, rye, or wheat. This however is made from the syrup squeezed from the stalks of the sorghum grass. This syrup is often called Sorghum Molasses, although that is a bit of a misnomer. Now here is where the conundrum really starts. Molasses is the base for…RUM. This isn’t the same molasses that is used for most rum production. The molasses used for most rum production is pressed from sugar cane, not sorghum. However there are a few distilleries producing alcohol from sorghum and calling it rum, such as Wilderness Trail Harvest Rum and Heart Land Distilling had a Sorghum spirit, but it may not make it anymore. On the flip side , there are distillers out there making Sorghum Whiskey too. See High Wire Distilling and Still 360’s S.S. Sorghum. The question now is should this be called “Whiskey” or “Rum”? The manufacturers are calling it whiskey, but because of its’ lack of grain some would label this a rum. So in the name of scientific discovery, let’s delve into this The color is a light caramel, which could be either a whiskey or a rum. It is a bit cloudy like a non-filterd whiskey, but I have seen a few rums that were cloudy too. Seeing as all aged alcohol has color I don’t feel we can judge this as whiskey or rum on color alone. Let’s move on. The nose is a conundrum all to itself. I have close to 20 bottles of whiskey, and 4 bottles of rum. I broke them all out to try and decipher this puzzle. It has strong notes of Molasses and brown sugar. Typical rum smells. Then we have Oak and Vanilla, typical notes of whiskey. Then throw in the some fresh cut hay, which to be honest is a first for me and after some research could go either way. Again I am stymied. The nose can go either way, so the last chance is flavor. Let’s go. I give up. The flavor can go either way as well. We have the rum with its’ Molasses and Dark Fruit. Then we have the whiskey with its Oak and Spice. Lastly we have the common flavors like the Vanilla and Sweet Tobacco. Arguably the dark fruit could go either way as well, but this isn’t raisins or cherries, this is more of a plum or prune. While the reading I have done says this also could go either way, I smelled it in the four rums I have on hand, but not in any of the whiskey. Well, we are no closer to an answer than when we started. We have characteristics of both rum and whiskey. I suppose for now we will just have to go with what the manufacturer says and call it whiskey. I can’t say this was my favorite. It is to different for my taste. I don’t mind rum, but I love my whiskey. A combination of rum and whiskey is just to weird for me. It’s not bad, it’s just not really my cup of whiskey. It might be good for someone trying to make the transition from rum to whiskey, or for someone who enjoys both equally. I won’t go looking for it, but I wouldn’t turn it down either.